Coil mount



H. T. HEATON COIL MOUNT Filed July 30, 1956 INVENTORI HENRY T. HEATON BY @wam HIS ATTORNEY.

United States Patent COIL MOUNT Henry T. Heaton, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application July 30, 1956, Serial No. 600,915

3 Claims. (Cl. 336-65) This invention relates to an improved coil mounting structure.

The most common construction of choke coils and the like used in electronic chassis is comprised of a cylindrical form on which the coil is wound. Axial terminals are imbedded or otherwise attached to the form and the leads of the coil are electrically connected to them. Because each coil has to be separately wound on its cylindrical form, the cost of manufacture is relatively great. Furthermore, it is diflicult to assemble such coils into an electronic chassis by means of automatic machinery.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a coil mounting construction that is inexpensive to fabricate and easy to assemble by automatic means.

This objective may be attained in accordance with the invention by a structure comprised of a thin sheet or wafer of material on which a coil is mounted. The leads of the coil are electrically connected to staples inserted in the sheet or wafer of material. The staples also serve as mounting pins for the unit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mount ing structure for a plurality of coils in which the magnetic coupling between the coils may be easily set at a predetermined value.

The manner in which the above objectives may be attained in accordance with this invention will be better understood after the following discussion rendered in connection with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the coil mounting structure that is the subject of this invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the structure of Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 show a construction in which coils are mounted on either side of the wafer; and

Figures 5 and 6 show a construction similar to that of Figures 3 and 4 but having an additional staple.

In the drawings, a coil 2 is mounted on a sheet or wafer 4 of insulating material as by an adhesive. Staples 6 and 8 of electrically conducting material are either inserted through preformed openings in the sheet 4 or are forced through the sheet. One lead 11 of the coil 2 is wrapped around one end of the staple 6 and the other lead 12 of the coil 2 is wrapped around the corresponding end of the staple 8. Good electrical contact is insured by soldering. It is readily apparent that either of the leads 11, 12 could be wrapped around the opposite end of the staples 6 and 8 respectively and that the unwrapped ends of the staples could be cut oil? so as not to protrude beyond the periphery of the wafer 4. One advantage of this structure is the fact that the wafer 4 may be made of relatively flexible material as it is stiffened by the coil itself as Well as by the staples.

One advantage of the coil mounting structure just described is that it permits a high degree of automation both in the manufacture of the structure itself as well as in its installation in electronic equipment. For example, the coil mounting structure may be manufactured by a single machine that operates as follows. The wire of which the coil is to be made is fed to an oscillating revolving guide that winds the wire on an arbor so as to form what is known as a universal type of Winding. The wire is covered with insulation such as Celanese so that spraying it with a solvent causes the turns of the coil to adhere to each other and hence make the coil self-supporting. Several coils are mounted on a rotating spindle to permit continuous Winding. After the coils are wound and sprayed they are automatically and successively stripped from the arbor. The insulating material that is to form the sheet 4 may be taken from a roll and means are provided for holding the coils against it at intervals spaced under the control of notches or holes in the strip. The insulating material may be fibrous, in which event the coils may be cemented to it or it may have a coating of solvent-activated adhesive material such as cellulose acetate which may be dissolved with acetone to such an extent that a coil will adhere when pressed against it. The coating of the sheet may be a thermoplastic adhesive material so that the coil may be adhered thereto by application of heat. The staples 6 and 8 may be inserted in the sheet of material on either side of each coil and automatic means may be provided for twisting the ends of the coil about the terminals as shown in the drawing. Hence, the various mounting structures are part of a continuous strip and may be separately cut therefrom.

It will also be apparent that either pair of ends of the staples 6 and 8 can be readily inserted in holes in a printed circuit board. If the ends that are wrapped with the lead 11, 12 are so inserted, the soldering of these leads to the staples as Well as to conductors on the printed circuit board may be accomplished at the same time as by dip soldering.

The structure shown in Figures 3 and 4 is similar to that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, but has in addition another coil 14 mounted on the opposite side of the Wafer. Variation in the relative orientation of the coils 2 and 14 or variation in the thickness of the Wafer 4 will cause desirable changes in the magnetic coupling between the coils. As shown, the coils 2 and 14 are connected in series, but it is apparent that other connections could be made. It is also possible that the coils constitute windings of a transformer in which event more staples can be used. In Figures 3 and 4 the connections between the leads of the coils 2 and 14 are made by twisting them together at the top of the wafer as indicated by the numeral 15. However, an extra staple 17 may be provided for this purpose if desired. This staple need not protrude from both sides of the wafer.

While I have illustrated a particular embodiment of my invention, it will of course be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, since various modifications, both in the circuit arrangement and in the instrumentalities, may be made and I contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modification as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A coil mount comprising a wafer of electrical insulating material, a coil adhered to one side of said wafer, said coil having a pair of leads, a first staple inserted in the Wafer so as to have an intermediate section on one side of said Wafer and end portions on the other, a second staple inserted in the wafer so as to have in intermediate section on one side of said wafer and end portions on the other, said end portions protruding beyond the periphery of said wafer on at least one side, one of said coil leads being wrapped around a protruding end portion of one of said staples and the other of said coil leads being a 3 wrapped around a protruding end portion of the other References Cited in the file of this patent of said staples. PA ENT 2. A coil mount as set forth in claim 1 wherein the UNITED STATES T 8 surface of said wafer adjacent said coil is coated with a 2,511,897 Booth June 1950 vsolvent-activated adhesive. 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 3. A coil mount as set forth in claim '1 wherein the surface of said water adjacent the said coil is coated with 563,196 Germany Nov. 5, 1932 a thermoplastic adhesive. 

